The present invention relates to an 8 mm video tape rewinder for use in rewinding or forwarding an 8 mm video tape received in a cassette case, and more particularly to an apparatus for loading the 8 mm video tape.
An 8 mm video tape is a magnetic tape having a width of eight millimeters and is designed to be held in a cassette case. It is generally used for recording images and sounds and for modulating the pulse codes. It is now often used in recording images and sounds in view of the fact that the 8 mm video camera is miniaturized and light in weight.
The videotaping process involves an operation of transporting an 8 mm magnetic tape past a video frequency magnetic head to read or record electronic impulses. The completed videotape is then rewound for later playing. Such operation of rewinding the completed videotape can be carried out either in the video camera or the video deck. Neither operations of recording nor reproducing images can be performed by the video camera or video deck while rewinding the completed videotape. As a result, a videotape rewinder was developed and introduced exclusively for rewinding the completed videotape so as to relieve both video camera and video deck of the rewinding work.
The 8 mm video cassette is not provided therein with a videotape winding guide post. Therefore, a loading apparatus for recording, reproducing and rewinding the videotape is provided outside the video cassettes of video camera, video deck and rewinder.
As shown in FIG. 1, an 8 mm videotape 1 is contained in a video cassette 3 in such a manner that it makes contact with a tape supporting post 2. Under such circumstance, the operations of recording, reproducing, rewinding and fast-forwarding can not be executed.
The FIG. 2 shows a video cassette 3 containing an 8 mm video tape set in a video camera or a video deck in such a manner that it permits the video tape to be recorded, reproduced, rewound or fast-forwarded. The magnetic tape 1 is shown to have been drawn out of the 8 mm video tape cassette 3 by a tape loading post 4 and to have been guided by a plurality of tape guiding posts 5-16 to pass a video head cylinder 6. Under such circumstance, the video tape 1 does not make contact with the tape supporting post 2. As a result, the operations of recording, reproducing, rewinding and fast-forwarding can be executed.
In order to perform a rewinding operation, a video tape rewinder is provided with a tape loading apparatus having tape loading posts 17 and 18, as shown in FIG. 3. The tape loading posts 17 and 18 can be driven respectively to move from the positions 17a and 18a to the positions 17b and 18b. As shown in FIG. 4, a tape loading apparatus of the prior art is shown comprising a driving arm 22, a pair of connecting arms 21, a pair of gears 29, and a pair of loading arms 19 and 20. The driving arm 22 is located at the center of the long side of the video tape cassette and is capable of moving in parallel to the short side of the video tape cassette. The connecting arms 21 are pivotally connected at the centers thereof to a pivot 27 located on the base of the rewinder, with one end thereof coupled with the upper end of the driving arm 22, and with other end thereof provided with a sector gear 28. The gears 29 are rotatably mounted on the base of the rewinder in such a manner that they mesh with the sector gear 28. Each of the loading arms 19 and 20 is provided at one end thereof with tape loading posts 17 and 18 and is secured at the other end to a central axle of the gear 29. When the driving arm 22 is driven downward, the driving force is imparted via connecting arms 21 and gears 29 to the tape loading posts 17 and 18, which subsequently move from positions 17a and 18a to positions 17b and 18b where the rewinding operation can be executed.
As shown in FIG. 4, the loading arms 19 and 20 and the gears 29 of the tape loading apparatus are spaced apart at large intervals and are located beyond both sides of the tape loading posts 17 and 18. As a result, the shape and the size of the tape loading apparatus can not be reduced to compact forms.